Manila food, lifestyle & travel blog

Tsukemen experience at Mitsuyado Sei-Men

Although I’ve been eating ramen for a long time now, the tsukemen (dipping noodles) experience was something new to me.In Manila, only one new Japanese restaurant offers this at the moment and it’s at Mitsuyado Sei-Men on Jupiter St. Makati. The tsukemen concept is basically that the noodles are separated from the soup and its toppings so you have a plated presentation like this serving of Marotoku Tsukemen (P340) –

Step 1: hold the noodles with the chopsticks, step 2: dip it in the soup. Eat at your leisure getting the toppings and slurping more soup. Initially, I couldn’t make sense of the whole thing. We’re used to having it all together but the Japanese love their rituals and this is one!

The Double Cheese Tsukemen (P340 for regular) was comfort food for me. Think of this as Mac n’Cheese, Japanese version. I relished every bite of the freshly-made noodles with the cheesy sauce and thought of my kiddies. They would love this.

I agree that Mitsuyado can distinguish itself from other places in town with the quality of their noodles, but I also love the ambiance. It’s like Tokyo was suddenly transported to Jupiter St., complete with the noodle cart in the background.

Aside from the tsukemen, Mitsuyado also offers other items on the menu to suit the usual demand of Filipino diners for variety. They have appetizers like gyoza and donburi or rice toppings.

Don’t forget good ol’ramen. The resto has a unique selection of the Japanese noodle soup that’s much adored by people these days.

If you like squid ink pasta, then you can’t possibly be squeamish for Mitsuyado’s Ikasumi Ramen (P380). Its broth is flavored with squid ink, hence the color. I also love the golden appearance of the egg and of course, the oh-so-tender char siu.

They mean it when they say SPICY Miso Ramen (regular: P280) but I like that this noodle dish gives my palate the right KICK!

The Tan Tan Mien (P280) reminds me of the Chinese Dandan Noodles. It’s also spicy and is a must-try at Mitsuyado.

If you still have space for it, end your meal with any of the resto’s iced desserts. (Clockwise, from left): Sumiyaki Coffee Jelly (P90), Hawaiian Blue Kakigori (P90), Strawberry Kakigori (P90) and Mini Halo-Halo (P150).

Watch out for their other Japanese dishes coming soon. Here’s a preview: the Hakata Ramen in very rich tonkotsu broth.So heavy that it’s enough to fill you up for eight hours running